


Heart of a Dancer

by nermansherman



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: West Coast Swing, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nermansherman/pseuds/nermansherman
Summary: Lucy loved dancing as a kid, but suddenly stopped. Taking a Levy-mandated break from her current novel, Lucy goes to a west coast swing club. There, she dances with a man she's never seen before. West Coast Swing dance AU
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	Heart of a Dancer

Lucy had always loved dancing, ever since she was young. As a toddler, she would stand on her mother’s feet while the older woman danced for the both of them. As she got older, she would dance with the servants around the house whenever she could, and by herself if she couldn’t find anyone else to dance with. At six, her parents enrolled her in a dance academy. She started in ballet, but soon begged to try another style of dance as well. Her parents and teachers complied, adding tap lessons to the young girl’s plate. Again, it was not long before she wanted to try a new style, and again her parents and teachers agreed, giving her lessons in hip hop dancing. After years of this same pattern, they thought she had finally settled on jazz, contemporary, and ballroom. It was a surprise to everyone when suddenly, her sophomore year of high school, Lucy dropped dance altogether. Her parents and teachers wondered what happened. Whenever they asked, she would always say “it just didn’t feel right.” She finished high school and went off to college, majoring in English. She never danced again. At least, so her parents thought.

* * *

Lucy threw her head back and sighed, before slamming her laptop shut. She stood, and ran her hands through her hair, wishing she could figure out what came next in her novel. She knew Jace would pass through some sort of obstacle to get to Alivia, but  _ what kind? Maybe a dragon? Or maybe a troll? No! Trolls guard bridges, not towers! Stupid, stupid Lucy! Stop thinking stupid thoughts! Okay, what else- _

“Having a good time?” Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and looked over to see her best friend and roommate leaning in her doorway. “I heard you abusing your laptop and thought you could use a pick-me-up.” Lucy looked down to see a mug of hot chocolate being offered.

“Thanks, Levy,” Lucy said, taking a long sip from the mug. “I just can’t seem to figure out what comes next, and the deadline for this chapter is Friday. I’ve got maybe ten words.”

“Well, why not let me take a look at these ten words and try to inspire you a little, hmm?” Levy asked, already opening the laptop back up. “Ah, I see your first mistake.”

“Mistake?!” Lucy practically threw the mug on the desk and pushed Levy out of the way. “I’ve read it a thousand times, there’re no grammatical errors!”

Levy laughed, shaking the bed. “No, dummy, there’s actually 22 words.” Lucy glared at her. “I’m kidding! Somewhat. But this isn’t related to the last chapter at all. Alivia wasn’t locked in a tower, she was locked in a closet. And Jace wasn’t a knight. You switched genres on yourself.” Gaping, Lucy scrolled up to read the last chapter. Levy was right. “I think you’re starting to burn yourself out.”

“Damn. You’re right.” Lucy sat back in her chair, staring at the word document in front of her.  _ How could I completely forget the plot of the story I’m writing? Mavis, could I be any stupider? Stupider isn’t even a word! _

“Initiating Operation: Cheer Up Lucy in five, four, three, two—” Levy laughed as Lucy bolted out of the room, knowing what was coming. “Target gone! New mission directive: find Lucy!” The blue-haired girl stood up, chasing her friend.

“Levy! Levy please, no! Don’t do this! You know how much I hate being tickled!” Lucy cried, hiding behind the island in the kitchen.

“Who is ‘Levy’? I am Operative McGarden,” ‘Operative McGarden’ said, doing a bad imitation of a robot while leaning toward Lucy.

“Operative McGarden! Don’t! Wait, um, ABORT MISSION! Abort! Abort!” 

Levy stopped. “Abort Mission? Please input the abort code. You have ten seconds.”

“Shit,” Lucy said, wracking her brain for any phrase Levy found funny.

“‘Shit’ is not the abort code. You have five seconds. Four sec—”

“Pink elephants!”

“—onds. Three seconds. Two—”

“Talking, flying cats!”

“—seconds. One second.”

“My dad doing an Irish jig in a panda costume while juggling eggplants!”

“Zero seconds. Abort code approved. Mission aborted,” Levy laughed, trying and miserably failing to keep a straight face.

“I hate you,” said Lucy.

“Mmmm, sure you do.”

Lucy groaned. “Fine, maybe I don’t. But I  _ definitely _ hate Operative McGarden.”

“Who?” Levy asked, stepping over Lucy to get a glass of water.

“Why did you major in linguistic anthropology instead of theatre?”

“Why did you major in English instead of dance?”

“Touché,” Lucy said, sitting on the couch. Levy joined her, sipping her water. “You’re right though, I’m burning myself out. I think I’m gonna go out tonight.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Just need to get out of my head for a bit. Do something else.”

“Alright, but be safe, and be back before 2 am,” Levy said.

“Will do, mother hen,” Lucy joked, fake-saluting her friend. Levy glared in return.

* * *

The club was already full swing when Lucy arrived, the music loud enough to be heard outside. Fairy Tail wasn’t like most clubs in the fact that generally only one couple would dance at a time. It specialized in west coast swing, a type of dance that was improvised between two partners. Most of the floor was set aside for watching whoever the dancing couple was at the moment, which was currently a man with messy auburn hair and a smaller woman with pink hair. The rest was set aside for people who didn’t want to be watched while they swung, or didn’t swing at all. A bar lined the back wall, manned by a white-haired woman. Lucy headed there first.

“I haven’t seen you around here in a while,” the woman said.

“I’ve been busy,” Lucy replied. “Could I get a lemon drop?”

“Coming right up!” she said. As her drink was prepared, she watched the dancing couple over the heads of the crowd. The man dipped his partner and brought her back up into a pushback, then let her dance past him, to the other side of the circle. “That’s Leo and Aries,” the bartender said, giving Lucy her drink.

“Thanks, Mira. And they’re so in sync. It almost looks choreographed.”

Mira laughed. “That’s what happens when you’ve known someone your entire life. They grew up together, work together, and are engaged.”

“Wow,” Lucy said, taking a sip of her drink. “I wonder how they don’t get sick of each other.”

“Me too! Laxus and I have been dating for six months but I’m still ready to smack him every time I see him.”

“I think that might be because you’re both crazy,” Lucy laughed, downing the rest of her drink. “Thanks again for the drink, Mira. I’m gonna go get in the circle.” Lucy paid the bartender and stepped into the crowd of people watching the dancers, now the orange haired man, Leo, and a brunette Lucy normally saw sitting at the bar, Cana. Cana didn’t normally dance, but with the way she and Leo played off of each other, it was clear they had also known each other a long time and he had probably called in a favor. 

Good west coast swing dancers always looked as though they had danced together their entire lives, even though it was often the first time the partners had danced together. At Fairy Tail, you could pick your partner, and once your dance ended your partner picked a new partner. It was the easiest way to keep people flowing in and out of the center without someone having to call out dancers. It was also an unspoken rule that you didn’t pick someone who had been in the last few dances, so everyone got an opportunity to dance. And if, for some reason, your partner only wanted one dance, they could pick the next dancers.

Leo’s dance ended and it was Cana’s turn to pick someone from the crowd to dance with. She wandered in, and soon came out leading a pink-haired man by the wrist. The crowd oohed, clearly knowing who he was, but Lucy had never seen him before. Cana pulled him into the center and he took the lead as soon as the music started.

He started slow, holding her waist, and did a few counts of the classic slow waltz before leading her into an inside turn, letting her spin to the other end of the slot and chasing her. Cana grinned and raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to make their dance wilder. He simply rolled his eyes and pulled her back to him and turned himself away from her, so his back was facing her. She placed her hands on his back and they stepped back together before he spun her around himself and she danced down the slot once again.

Lucy watched, entranced by the way he moved. She’d never seen anyone dance quite like him, and she’d seen a lot of people dance, thanks to never missing a dance competition when she was younger. Every move seemed so casual, yet there was a power and purpose behind that laxness. She couldn’t look away.

Somehow, without even noticing, Lucy had made her way to the outer rim of the circle surrounding the dancers. Cana danced toward her and winked before turning back to the man who spun her around. She pulled the man’s arm and dipped herself, holding herself up by his arm. He pulled her back up and spun her away, faking anger. She wiggled her eyebrows at him, clearly having fun with the character he put on. It wasn’t often the follower took the lead for a move, but that was Cana’s signature. Lucy chuckled at her friend’s antics. She was always a wild ride. 

Cana and the pink-haired man continued their dance, which had almost turned into a game of cat and mouse, Cana trying to get away but the man pulling her back. Soon, their dance ended and Cana left the circle. The pink-haired man turned slowly, looking for a new partner. His eyes met Lucy’s and he smiled, walking toward her and holding his hand out. He was asking her to dance. She placed her hand in his and almost jumped at the heat he gave off.

Gently, he led her into the center of the circle and the DJ started the next song. The few people that recognized her gasped. She wasn’t sure why, as she was just as good as everyone else here, but soon lost that thought as the pink-haired man placed his hands on her hips. They felt like fire, but in the most pleasant way possible. 

She let the man lead her hips, placing her hands around his neck. He led them up and down before she added a step to it, matching his movements. He slid his hands up her sides and grabbed her hands from behind his neck, swinging her to his left with their hands passing behind their heads and leaving their hands linked. He pulled her into his chest before rolling her back out. She walked toward him and behind his back, so his left arm crossed in front of his body. He spun out of it and grabbed both of her hands and slid her between his legs and back up again. He then let go of her hands and caught her waist while she was mid-air and lifted her before gently setting her back on the ground.

Lucy felt like the wind had been knocked out of her and  _ could not _ figure out why. Maybe it was because she had never danced like this with anyone before, maybe it was because she had not expected that lift, maybe it was because wherever this pink-haired man touched her she felt like she was on fire, or maybe because it felt like she had finally found the kind of dancing that did feel right. It just took 22 years.

She smiled at that thought, and put her right foot on the inside of his, chests touching and daring him to dip her. He complied, with a cheeky grin, and dipped her nearly to the floor. She grinned back and raised her legs above the both of them and let her arms swing away from their grip around his neck. He was the only thing keeping her from falling.

Not wanting to drop her, the pink-haired man pulled her up, their noses almost touching. He moved his hands back to hers and spun her to the other side of the slot, following her. She met him halfway and he led her into a basic whip, letting her right foot just barely touch where she stood when the whip started before pulling her into his chest, their noses actually touching this time, right as the song ended. Neither moved. Lucy couldn’t look away, and she didn’t particularly want to, anyway. The pink-haired man seemed to be having the same issue.

“Um,” Lucy said, finally giving in to her duty to pick a new partner. “I think the song ended.”  _ Real smooth, Lucy. Way to go. _

He laughed. “I think it did.” Slowly, he let her go and walked out of the circle and to the bar.

Lucy watched him, then turned back to the rest of the circle. Everyone looked as shocked as she felt.  _ Damn it . _ Lucy quickly picked a man with dark hair and girl with blue hair to start the next dance before going to the bar to follow the pink-haired man. She couldn’t just let him walk away after a dance like that.

Mira looked at Lucy, gave her a wink, and walked to the other end of the bar to clean some glasses. “That lift was a bold move,” Lucy said.

The man turned, chuckling. “Like the dip wasn’t?”

“Fair point,” she said, sitting on the stool next to him.

“I’m Natsu.” The pink-haired man, Natsu, held his hand out for a handshake.

“I’m Lucy.” She shook his hand. “Dear Mavis, why are you so hot?” He laughed again.  _ Dumbass! Idiot! Fool! _ “Ack! I meant—”

“I know what you meant, don’t worry. And I don’t know, honestly. Just always been really warm. When I was a kid, doctors thought I was constantly running a fever, but I felt fine. I actually used to pretend I was a fire dragon because of it. Aaaaaand I’m telling a random stranger that I pretended I was a dragon as a kid. This is going swell.” Natsu sighed, nearly slamming his head onto the bar. 

Lucy giggled. “If it makes you feel better, I used to pretend to be a princess trapped in a tower and a dragon was saving me instead of a knight. And I wouldn’t consider us strangers after a dance like that. I still feel like I’m on fire.”

Natsu looked up at that. “Fire?”

“Yeah, every single time you touched me it felt like fire, but in a good way, if that makes sense.”

“It does, it’s just kinda ironic. I’m a fireman.”

“Huh. And here I thought irony was just for books.”

Natsu laughed again. “So, where’d you learn to dance like that?”

“I’ve been dancing since I was six, but dropped it in high school because it just … didn’t feel quite right. It didn’t help that I preferred improv to choreographed dances. When I went to college, my friend introduced me to west coast swing and I realized it was what I’d been looking for. I moved here a couple years ago and found Fairy Tail, and have been dancing here when I have the chance.”

“Oh, so  _ that _ explains why I haven’t seen you before,” Natsu said. He saw how confused Lucy was and continued. “I’ve lived here in Magnolia my whole life, and hung around Fairy Tail since I was a kid. Everyone here is like my family, and I know almost everyone, but I got back from a trip a few days ago.”

“And today’s the first day I’ve been here for a few months. We must’ve been barely missing each other for the longest time!” Lucy laughed at the coincidence of it all. Natsu joined in, and then looked at her. 

“I’m glad we met, though. No one’s ever danced with me like that.”

“Same here,” Lucy said. Then she glanced at her phone. 1:53 am.  _ Not good . _ “Shit, my roommate’s gonna kill me.”

“What? Why?”

“She said I had to be home by 2 and the walk home is 15 minutes.”

Natsu checked his own phone and realized her predicament. “I can drive you!” Lucy looked unsure. “You let me be the only thing keeping you from falling on your ass in front of a ton of people, but me driving you home is an issue?”

“Maybe it’s all a huge plot to kidnap me! I don’t know, and I don’t want to take that risk!”

Natsu sighed. She had a point, even though he knew he just wanted to get her home safely. “I pinky promise I won’t kidnap you when I drive you home.” He held up the aforementioned digit, waiting for her to take it.

Lucy thought about it for a moment, then linked her pinky with his.  _ I’d rather fight him than Levy. I’d at least have a chance. _

“Great! C’mon!” Natsu grabbed her hand and ran out of the club.

“NATSU!” someone roared.

“Sorry Gray!” he called. “I’ll come back for you!”

Lucy laughed. “Who was that?”

“ _ My _ roommate.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This whole fic was unexpected, to say the least. I was trying to figure out some stuff for another fic but this came out instead, and I really liked the idea so I had to write it. West Coast Swing is SUCH a cool type of dancing, and I tried to do it justice as best I could. 
> 
> This is currently a one-shot, but will probably end up being a three-shot (four if I become a genius). I’m not gonna focus on this as much as my other fics, this was mostly just to get the idea out of my head.
> 
> Anyway, feel free to leave a review, or read other stuff I’ve written!
> 
> (Shoutout to my best friend for proofreading this! I love youuuuuuu)
> 
> -nerman


End file.
